Chicago Bulls legend Scottie Pippen had some choice words to say regarding Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, and he must be out of his mind.
The last few months have been tough for everyone, especially sports fans. With the sports world shut down for the most part, we haven’t had the usual events keeping us entertained. However, ESPN gave us the remedy: The Last Dance, a 10-part series documenting the final championship run for Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
It wasn’t just Bulls fans. It wasn’t even sports fans in general. It was the world watching. This series was exactly what we needed right now, and gave us more than enough entertainment for five weeks.
Other than Jordan, Scottie Pippen was a focal point for much of the show. When the show was over, most folks would agree with his stance on how the organization treated him over the years. It wasn’t good.
[embedded content]Pippen was maybe one of the most under-appreciated players of all-time, with general manager Jerry Krause never paying him what he deserved. Pippen continued to give it all (most of the time) for his teammates.
Just about a week after the series ended, ESPN came out with a video and quote back from January, where Pippen talked about the late Kobe Bryant. The highlighted quote hears Pippen say one startling piece of information in particular:
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“…when I go back and look at his videos, and I say to myself, ‘Damn, he was better than Michael Jordan…'”
It is a noteworthy statement indeed, because this quote happened before The Last Dance aired. Now, maybe Pippen got a chance to see it before its air date. In fact, there’s a good chance he did.
Word has it that Pippen has been upset with how he was portrayed in the series, but this type of quote is going too far. If he was and is still mad at the Bulls organization for how they treated him for so many years, there’s no reason to come out and say something this ludicrous.
First of all, I give all the respect in the world to Kobe. He is, in my mind, one of the top five players to ever play this game. But, to say Kobe was better than Jordan? That’s hysterical. There will never be another player greater than Jordan — and that’s never been a debate, as much as people want to create one.
Pippen is either still upset — which might never change — or he is simply delusional. I’m not so sure it isn’t a little of both, at this stage. But, the point is, Pippen is dead wrong. Period.